


Here In Your Arms

by burymeinziam



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-08
Updated: 2013-01-08
Packaged: 2017-11-24 05:08:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/630760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burymeinziam/pseuds/burymeinziam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s trying to sound angry, or at least a little annoyed, but he doesn’t really have it in him because he’s in love with this kid and Liam can’t help but to be anything but happy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here In Your Arms

It starts with Liam finding Zayn’s underwear in his hamper.

He’ s sorting through his laundry when he comes across the pair of bright red boxer briefs that he remembers sliding off of Zayn a little over two days earlier. He holds the underwear up, wondering how or when they ended up in his laundry. Maybe he picked them up when he was cleaning up his room or perhaps Zayn had tossed them into the hamper without much thought because Zayn doesn’t really think about anything he does.

Liam sighs as he folds the underwear and makes a mental note to give them back to Zayn the next time he comes over. He doesn’t really think much about the underwear again until Zayn is over a few days later and asks about the bright red briefs as he’s searching through Liam’s underwear drawer.

“Are these mine?” Zayn asks, tightening his grip on the towel he has wrapped around his waist as he pulls the underwear out of the drawer and holds them up so Liam can see them from where he’s lying in bed. 

Liam glances up from the book he’s reading and eyes the underwear. He takes a short moment to appreciate Zayn’s post shower nudity before nodding his head and returning his attention back to the sentence he’d been reading. “Yeah. They were in my laundry. I meant to give them back to you, but I guess I forgot.”

“Oh,” Zayn replies dropping his towel and slipping the underwear on. “Thanks.”

Liam mumbles a quick ‘welcome’ and tries to get back to his reading when it occurs to him that Zayn had been sorting through his underwear drawer for something to put on. “Wait,” Liam says, marking his page and setting the book down in his lap. “Why were you looking through my underwear drawer?”

Zayn shrugs as he cross the room and settles into the bed next to Liam. He rests his head on Liam’s shoulder and presses a quick kiss to his boyfriend’s collar bone. “I forgot to bring a pair of my own so I figured I’d borrow a pair of yours.”

He says it so casually, as if it isn’t that big of a deal, but the idea kind of sets Liam’s nerves on fire. He hadn’t realized how close they had gotten; how comfortable Zayn had gotten with the idea of a them – of an us – versus the idea of Liam and Zayn as separate individuals. Liam had only recently become used to the fact that he was in a relationship with another guy and now they were sharing underwear.

“Do you mind?” Zayn is asking, raising his head so he could meet Liam’s eyes.

Liam could tell Zayn was a little worried that he’d done something wrong and he really didn’t want to start a fight or create tension where it wasn’t necessary by voicing his concerns so he shook his head and offered Zayn a reassuring smile. “No. It’s fine. I was just curious.”

Zayn smiles, his face visibly relaxing as he settles back into Liam’s side. His fingers trail over the thin line of hair trailing into the waist band of Liam’s jeans causing an involuntary shiver to shoot down Liam’s spine.

“Good.”

And then they’re kissing and Liam is pulling Zayn on top of him and Zayn is giggling and muttering some smart ass comment about Liam being an “eager little fucker” and Liam doesn’t really have the willpower nor the brain capacity to care about Zayn’s underwear or the seemingly speedy development of their relationship.

Not now, at least.

A few days, later however, Liam finds a couple of Zayn’s shirts and a pair of jeans on his bedroom floor.

And then Liam discovers that a bottle of that special shampoo Zayn likes to use has made its way into Liam’s shower.

Then, one weekend, Zayn forgets to bring his toothbrush and is forced to use Liam’s and the idea of sharing a toothbrush freaks Liam out so he doesn’t really think twice when he buys two brand new ones that afternoon when he makes a trip to the drug store. 

It’s not just the clothes and the shampoo and the tooth brushes that begin to scare Liam though. It’s the idea that Zayn is worming his way into every aspect of his life. It’s the fact that Zayn probably doesn’t even realize that he’s doing it either and that Liam is kind of just letting it happen.

He’s finds himself buying Zayn’s favorite cereal the next time he’s at the grocery store and he’s picking up cool ranch Doritos instead of nacho cheese because he knows Zayn likes those ones a little better. Liam finds himself texting Zayn and asking him what he wants to do for dinner once he gets off of work and doesn’t even think twice when he makes enough coffee for two people even on the days when Zayn doesn’t stay over.

These things don’t really bother Liam as they’re happening. It’s when he’s lying in bed at night and Zayn is tucked into the blankets beside him when Liam begins to realize just how much he seems to need Zayn.

It’s scary because Liam has never really needed another person before. He prides himself on being independent and makes a habit of keeping people at a distance because doing so makes it that much harder for them to hurt him. He doesn’t just let people in and, somehow, Zayn has managed to break right through that wall Liam has worked so hard to put up without him even realizing it.

Zayn stirs beside him and subconsciously shifts closer to Liam in bed. Liam brushes some hair out of Zayn’s eyes and looks at him, really looks at him, and tries to figure out when, why, and how this boy managed to imbed himself so deeply into his life.

And then Zayn is shifting again and muttering something in his sleep and his eyes are opening. He uses the arm he has draped over Liam’s chest to rub at his eyes and when he realizes that Liam is awake too this smile works its way onto his lips – the one says Liam has to be the best thing to ever happen to him – and the revelation kind of smacks Liam right in the face.

But then Zayn is laughing and reaching up to brush his fingers over Liam’s face as he says “Were you watching me sleep?”

Liam feels his face grow hot as he shrugs his shoulders and avoids Zayn’s gaze. “Not really… I was thinking mostly.”

“About what?” Zayn asks once his laughter has died down. He stifles a yawn as he props himself up on his elbow so he can get a proper look at his boyfriend’s face.

Liam rolls onto his back because he doesn’t know if he has the guts to say the words out loud – let alone to Zayn’s face. He’s having trouble coming to terms with the idea himself so he isn’t sure if he knows how to put it into words.

“I was thinking about how you always leave your underwear here and how you have your own toothbrush and… did you know you have your own bottle of shampoo in my shower?”

Zayn furrows his brow even though he knows Liam isn’t looking at him and can’t see the confusion that is written all over his face. “Are… are you mad because my stuff is here because—”

“No, no,” Liam says tossing his arm over his eyes because this isn’t coming out right at all. He draws in a deep breath and holds it in as he tries to get his thoughts in order. When he exhales he rolls back onto his side so he’s facing Zayn and says “You know I buy cool ranch Doritos when I go to the store now? And that I pick up that sugary cereal you like even though I can’t stand it?”

“I don’t… where are you going with this, Liam?”

Liam sighs and closes his eyes because this isn’t going right at all, but when he opens them and sees Zayn’s face – open and honest and concerned – Liam feels safe and even though everything seems to be going all wrong it’s alright because this is them.

“I just… I feel like I need you,” Liam says in a voice so quiet Zayn almost has to strain to hear him properly. “You’ve become such a major part of my life, Zayn, and it scares me because I can’t even seem to imagine living a life without you in it. I’ve never needed anybody before and that may just be because I’ve never let myself, but… I think that makes it even scarier because, if that’s the case, I’ve subconsciously allowed myself to need you, you know?”

It’s quiet as Zayn looks at Liam with this unreadable expression and Liam is shaking in his boots because he’s basically laid his heart on the line and Zayn isn’t saying a damned thing.

But then Zayn is laughing. It starts with a small smirk and then a few giggles slip past his lips and the next thing Liam knows Zayn is lying flat on his back shaking with laughter and struggling to catch his breath.

Liam groans in frustration as he sits up in the bed and folds his arms over his chest. “Thanks, Zayn; thanks a lot. I appreciate how much you seem to care about this.”

Zayn sits up as well, still laughing – but only slightly, and reaches over to cup Liam’s cheek. Liam involuntarily leans into the touch as he turns to look at his boyfriend.

“You love me,” Zayn says wearing this smug smile that would probably piss Liam off it didn’t look so good on him.

It doesn’t fail to frustrate him though because this is so typical of Zayn. He can’t be serious about anything. “Wow. I can’t believe you right now,” he says, looking at Zayn with eyes filled with more hurt than anger. “I just… do you know how hard it was for me to even come to terms with all of this? And then you have the nerve to—”

Liam’s sentence is cut short when Zayn leans over and kisses him. At first, he tries to push him away because he really doesn’t want to be kissing him right now. He’s angry and they really need to talk about all of this, but Zayn has his fingers in his hair and his lips are really soft and Liam has no choice but to melt into Zayn’s body and kiss him back.

When Zayn does finally pull away he presses their foreheads together and smiles something warm and friendly that makes Liam’s heart flutter a little because even though he’d rather not admit to it, Zayn is right, he’s in love with him.

“Hey,” Zayn whispers, rubbing his thumb over Liam’s bottom lip when looks down at his sheets and lets out this small, breathless sigh of defeat. Liam lifts his gaze and Zayn is still smiling at him as he presses another chaste kiss to Liam’s lips.

“Are you planning on finishing that sentence?” Liam asks against Zayn’s lips when he still hasn’t finished his thought. He’s trying to sound angry, or at least a little annoyed, but he doesn’t really have it in him because he’s in love with this kid and Liam can’t help but to be anything but happy.

Zayn chuckles and wraps his arms around Liam’s shoulders as he buries his face into his neck.

“I love you, too.”


End file.
